"Paying customers have 1) have a right to ask when the product will be ready and 2) a right to be angry that development has taken so long. "
This isn't exactly Microsoft we are dealing with here. If it were, the cost would be a great deal higher and the product wouldn't work right! And BTW, even Microsoft is famous for delaying their announced releases months and sometimes years later!
I am not happy about waiting for the update either, but I got what I paid for, and have been using it perfectly fine. If there is a bug in the paid for code, it is fixed very quickly and I think you can see regular patch updates in the appropriate forum. That is what you are paying for with the current release of any software product. Samuel also always takes the time to address issues with the current paid for version here in these forums. That is what I consider having paid for - patch updates and ongoing support. A brand new version with new features is R&D until its ready - and wil only be paid for after it is ready, released, and we buy it.
Other companies, btw, end support after a set period of time - or charge you extra money to continue it. I don't see Samuel saying we have to pay him annual maintenance fees. Other companies will only support their product to a certain point. Samuel has always tried to answer every question we pose him here, and in the rare case where he doesn't know, he says so. No one is ever left hanging.
Samuel has also previously posted that he has been going through some personal issues, this isn't new news unless you missed it. So let's cut the guy a break, I'm sure HE wants to get the new version out just as badly as we want to have it, and as a new product it will be ready when its ready and not a minute sooner. We can ask him today until Sunday to give us a date, and then if he misses that date for whatever reason, he looks bad again for not coming through. It is very wise of him to hold off on a release date until he has a better chance to estimate. I am not a professional developer, but I have tinkered here and there and it is not easy - the simplest routine can take days to figure out when you are trying to implement it with speed, stability, and compatibility.
I'm sure when the new version is finally ready it will be great and we will all be very happy with it. But just keep in mind, every time we post another query asking when will the new code be ready, Samuel has to stop working on writing the new code, and answer the query, putting him that much further behind. That is why I say, let's leave him alone to write the code, and hang on a little longer. I'm sure it will be here before we know it.